Christina: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Taking the Lead podcast where we empower people to be unstoppable. I'm Christina Hefner with my co-host Leslie Hoskins. And Tim v Kunow is actually not with us this morning because he's actually on campus for a new program we're trying out at Leader Dog, which you're gonna hear more about on this podcast in the coming weeks.
But Leslie and I still have an ongoing debate to settle. I'm sure many of you have heard about this debate throughout the years. Last year it got put on pause because I did not run the frozen P 5K, but we came back this year and ran it, and I won,
Leslie: I think. Okay. Okay. Leslie was there. I'm not even gonna let you introduce.
This because you've already done it all wrong. We all know longtime listeners know that the frozen P 5K is a race right? Between really the only people that matter in this race as far as we're concerned, are Christina and her now husband Johnny. Yeah. The rule is whoever I see first [00:01:00] wins no matter what any of the other official rulings say,
Christina: I will say Leslie was not there.
In person and so,
Leslie: so this is
Christina: important. Wait, listen. I was told Alyssa Otis, who you've heard on this podcast before, was there in person stepping in for her, so I ran up to her first.
Leslie: That, I don't know who you heard that from. That is absolutely made up. Nobody said that. So what happened? Everybody is I was not there unfortunately this year.
However, the first thing I saw when I woke up on my phone was Johnny, her lovely husband, had messaged me a selfie of himself and he said, Christina and Alyssa made up some rule about seeing Alyssa first, but I know the real rules. Here's me, I win.
Christina: Yeah, I did not know he was doing that. And then I got a text from Leslie and I was like.
I cannot believe you did that.
Leslie: I,
Christina: so then I texted her our actual run times and she said it doesn't matter,
Leslie: which is nothing.
Christina: I came across the finish line [00:02:00] first.
Leslie: I absolutely love that Johnny had clearly thought about that ahead of time. He knew exactly what he was gonna do. Yeah. And I love it. I thought it was fantastic and made me laugh out loud.
And I think he is the reigning champ. He continues to win year after year.
Christina: We've only been married for a few months and. That put a big riff in our marriage. I'm just kidding. Not, but I didn't talk to him for the rest of the day.
Leslie: Well, I'm
Christina: just kidding.
Leslie: It was a fantastic event from what I hear the team did amazing.
Steven puts on our events. It was super fun. Lots of people showed up. It was a great cause, right?
Christina: Yeah, I know. It was a really cool day and there was a lot of people that came out, so it was really nice. There was a heated tent, some a dj. There was. Donuts, which were really good.
Leslie: I heard nothing but fantastic things.
Yeah, so thank you to everybody who supported that event. It continues to be really fun and we look forward to it next year. Hopefully, again, we'll all be there and uh, and we'll see what happens. But I think we all know that Johnny will continue to come out as the winner here, so
Christina: I don't think. Awesome.
Leslie: But [00:03:00] anyways, we're gonna go ahead and get started today. Our guest is someone who is very influential in the blindness and low vision community, really focusing on advocacy, accessibility, and communication.
Christina: Tony Stevens is the Assistant Vice President of Communications at the American Foundation for the Blind, with over 30 years of experience in management and communications.
For the nonprofit sector, he spearheaded advocacy for national organizations such as the American Council of the Blind and National Industries for the Blind. Prior to joining a FB, Tony was the executive director for the Downtown Sailing Center in Baltimore, a community sailing center that focuses on accessible sailing for people of all abilities.
Previous work also includes work in print and broadcast media.
Leslie: Tony, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today.
Tony: Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here.
Leslie: Wonderful. Do you mind just telling us a little bit about yourself outside of this bio that we've got here?
Tony: Sure. Uh, it [00:04:00] is, uh, I've got a lot of chapters, so, uh, with lots of plot twist, so Yeah.
We'll, we'll jump. Um, you know, yeah, I, I originally am from Atlanta, as you can tell by my, my heavy southern accent. And, uh, but no, yeah, I grew up in Atlanta and went to the University of Georgia. I, I, I, you know, was legally blind since birth. Went totally blind when I was 15, and when I went off to college, it was one of these things where I could either, uh, you know, study jazz.
I had a chance on scholarship to go study jazz. Oh. Or study journalism. And, 'cause I was a, a musician, 'cause that's what, you know, if you're a blind person, they say, here, take an instrument up, you know, kind of thing when you're a kid. And, and so, uh, I had that big pivotal point of either music or journalism.
And I chose journalism. I got a journalism scholarship and started in newspaper and then moved into radio. Uh, in the 1990s, but, but developed a passion during that time [00:05:00] for sort of social justice, human rights issues from some personal experiences. That's a whole, probably not even a chapter, probably a book that takes place in Mexico.
Oh my goodness. Back in the early nineties. But, uh, but yeah, so I, um, you know, I sort of moved into this sort of human rights passion side when I graduated graduate school in the nineties. And actually went off to become a Jesuit priest, which is a Catholic religious order.
Leslie: Oh my goodness.
Tony: Uh, spent some time not far from Leader Dogs at University of Detroit Mercy.
Go Titans. Oh wow. Okay. Um, yeah. Worked in campus ministry there. I was based outta Loyola University for a little while outside and or in Chicago. And worked a lot with refugees from Latin America, worked a lot on Latin American stuff. Lived in Mexico actually for a while. And um, but I took, uh, that chapter, that was kind of the first act of the book, I guess you could say.
Leslie: Yeah,
yeah.
Tony: That kind of shifted over to, you know, um, if you're a Catholic priest, you can't get married. I never got ordained. It takes like 12 years to [00:06:00] get ordained as a je. Oh, wow. I
Christina: didn't know that. Yeah.
Tony: But I, um, I, I, you know, you can't get married and it's, uh, even though you live in a community, it can be somewhat isolating, kind of a lonely life and, and kind of feeling that and working through that.
I, uh, hopped on a train, uh, from, uh, Toledo after getting a ride from Detroit down to Toledo. Uh, and took it to New York City and landed in New York City, which was where I had some family and was home for a while previously in my life. And, uh, you know, from there kind of got involved in the whole sort of communication side.
I was like, well, I'm a writer. I did these great things. I produced some radio while the Jesuits that was like public affairs radio, the kind of stuff you'd hear at like 5:00 AM on a Sunday morning talk and on human rights and just social justice causes. And then, um. You know, when I landed in New York, I was sort of focusing on, look, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've done writing, I've done communications, and I [00:07:00] got sort of into this space of just nonprofit communications, working for public interest groups.
And it was there that I also found a wife. And, uh, you know, another plot twist, not plot twist, but, uh, chapter change, uh, you know, of, of having a kid. And she was from Baltimore, Washington, Columbia, the, this sort of between Washington, DC and Baltimore. And when we moved down here almost 15, 16 years ago, after the birth of our first son.
Uh, we, you know, I got a job and it was 2010. I was doing some amazing work for a nonprofit running their communications for, I won't say the name 'cause it didn't end too well. Um, uh, for a nonprofit that was national nonprofit. And, uh, it was complete misery. I'd had all this success doing great things.
Yeah, as a blind person. Uh, and then I went to work every day for eight months. And had a [00:08:00] boss that literally told other staffers, didn't know what to do with me. Yeah. Didn't how to work with me.
Christina: Wow.
Tony: Um, would just do things that clearly in hindsight now that have been an advocate for a number of years, would've been, you know, this sort of, uh, can I file an EOC complaint and stuff like, you know, like all this.
And it was just at the end of the day, I mean, we, we agreed to just look, this isn't working, you know? Um, I was going home each day with a baby and just miserable and horribly depressed.
Leslie: Oh my gosh.
Tony: Um, and it was, 'cause it was the first time in my life that something like that happened. Yeah. And I always had people lifting me up, you know, sort of the.
Um, Malcolm Gladwell's outliers, you know, the fact that there's always somebody underneath you helping you lift up Yeah. And, and carry you. And this was the first time that ever happened in my life where it was like, no. I mean, people had said no before as a blind person. Sure. But never before. Was it like No.
Yeah. You know, like a sinister, like a, just a, a, I shouldn't say sinister, but, but you get what I mean. Yeah. So, and that's what fell me in, into the [00:09:00] arms of national issues of the blind. Um, I thought to myself, if I've had this frustration with so much opportunity. How many, you know? 'cause I never really thought of myself as an advocate for the blind.
I was an advocate. Yeah. I was a Latin American, human rights refugees. Did a lot of work. I was in Israel for a while. Um, you know, I was, I I was, but I never really spoke around the blindness. It wasn't like, um, other than the personal fighting Right. You know? Yeah. Fighting to get into college or fighting to get a class and things like that.
So when I, you know, started working for NIB, it just, it. It just blossomed this idea, you know, I was working as a lobbyist on Capitol Hill working unemployment issues for the blind, and that just, that just was something I just fell in love with. The idea of, you know, advocate means to speak on behalf of
Christina: mm-hmm.
Tony: And, um, you know, the chance to be able to, to, to, to represent. You know, to be a communicator and then use those words to help people to work on behalf of [00:10:00] them through your ability to communicate. And that's basically what a lobbyist is. Yeah. I say lobbyist. It seems so dirty. I mean, we were good. We were the, the, the Glenda of the north.
Well, I don't know how that is after Wicked now. Yeah. But you know, we were the, the good advocates, right?
Christina: Yeah.
Tony: So, um, you know, the good lobbyists. So, but yeah. But that's, that's how I sort of fell into this space that I have been in. For 15 years now. Wow. And has been, um, just really amazing working for the American Foundation for the Blind.
You know, I remember when I lived in New York and you would walk down seventh Avenue and they were at Pimp Plaza and it was like this, it was coming back to wicked, like Oz for the blind. You know, this sort of high up in the tower is Carl Augusto, the former CEO, and it was just this magical place. And Helen Keller for 40 something years.
Leslie: Right.
Tony: You know, so, so the fact that I've fallen into the A FB, it's just been like, um, probably one of my favorite. It's definitely the, um, most invigorating and fulfilling job I've had in my
Christina: life. Yeah. I mean, your resume, that's quite the [00:11:00] fall, I'd say. Yeah. Has got to be so long, the amount of things you've done, and it sounds like kind of a bad situation.
Redirected you to what you're passionate about and what you love. And I, I love that space. And so kind of going through that and going through all that and now being. NFB, what are some things about accessibility and communications that maybe you didn't see at that job that you had that you now teach people about?
Tony: I never thought I would have, not just one, but multiple Barbie dolls in my house. I have two boys no longer married, so were a bachelor pad. But when we did the Blind Barbie last year,
Leslie: oh my gosh,
Tony: yes.
Leslie: I'm
Tony: obsessed with it. I have it in our office and now I have multiple blind Barbies and we worked very close on that.
And I worked on the communication side. We sort of, I had a chance to train them up on like audio descriptions so that the cartoon on the YouTube channel had audio description. And uh, we worked on our communications and the marketing around it and, and our research team worked on the packaging. And just that you're part of a team for [00:12:00] something and it's like quiet for a year.
You can't tell people. Um, and it's like, you know, you and, and, and, and when it launched it was just like, like hold onto the wings. Like it was, you know, we had like 2.8 billion impressions in two days, which that's, that's with a B and it just blew on, you know, so, and, and seeing the way it people reacted to it, it just was so special in a sense.
So, you know, it's this idea that. You know, we do like the marketing and the communications and write press releases and social media posts, and we have our own podcasts, right? But at the same time, we get a chance to work on some of these projects in a consulting role. And it really is transformative, right?
And, and the idea that you can do something that, uh, again, I wouldn't have thought I would be making an impact like that, just, you know, tangentially and it's, um, yeah, it's humbling.
Leslie: Absolutely. We are obsessed with the Barbie at our work at Leader Dog. I don't know how how many offices you can walk into and see the Barbie, but it's [00:13:00] such a great discussion.
And recently somebody brought into one of the client celebrations, um, like a guide dog figuring to go with the Barbie that somebody had, like I
Tony: Wonder, 3D
Leslie: printed.
Tony: Yeah. There's a woman that Yeah. Out in, um,
Leslie: was it
Tony: Ohio or Indiana? Wyoming. Or
Leslie: Wyoming.
Tony: There is, there is a, the one of the. NDUs affiliates. Okay.
Yeah. Uh, as a fundraiser, they make them, and so we have a black lab for Eric, our ceo Yes. Has a black lab named Tr I love that. Um, I've got a German Shepherd named Nge. Okay. Um, we've got a, a golden named Barney who's from Leader Dog. Yep. Um, and yeah, so we've got multiple dogs, two other dogs as well. Yeah.
Uh, but yeah, so it's, uh, it's, we're excited. It's, it's like, yay.
Christina: That looks very cool. I will say it was hard to find the Barbie when it came out. Like they were sold out everywhere. Yeah.
Tony: Yeah. It surprised everyone.
Christina: You guys did amazing work with that because I just would. I mean, social [00:14:00] medias were blowing up with reels and all of that sort of stuff on that amazing work.
Tony: It, it doesn't help. I mean, it, it definitely helps that, you know, you come off the back keels of the world's largest motion picture, you know? Yeah. Uh, Barbie and Oppenheimer, the Barbie Heimer, whatever it was that summer of competition. But yeah, I mean, we, we were very lucky. And um, you know, so yeah,
Leslie: that is very cool 'cause we think about a FP and you guys do so much research and advocacy and different things and I don't think about kind of probably those really special, cool projects that really infiltrate into just everyday life, you know, outside of the blindness community.
So that is a really cool, uh, cool project that you got to be a part of and we all thank you for that. It's so great to be able to put those Barbies in front of, I have a daughter who's six years old and those. Things are really important to talk about and to see every day at the store. So I thank you for that.
On a personal level too, and I don't know where to start, Tony, because there are so many things that I wanna talk about just with your [00:15:00] intro and your story of all the things that you've done and accomplished. But one thing I do wanna talk about, because you didn't mention it, but we mentioned it in the bio, is.
That you were the former executive director of Baltimore's Downtown Sailing Center and you really focus on accessible sailing for people with all abilities. Can you tell us more about that part of your life and, and what Motiva motivated you there?
Tony: I cannot be away from water. That is, um, it's therapeutic.
I don't know if it's like some primal thing 'cause we came from the sea as ameba or whatever we were Yeah. You know? Yeah. You know, sort of fish flopping on the beach billions of years ago. But I am just drawn to water. Always have been. Um, both my dad and my grandfather were, my, my grandfather was in the Navy in World War ii.
My dad was on an aircraft carrier in the Marine Corps in Vietnam War. And you know, so I grew up around, they were always big, you know, well, my dad was a big boater. Uh, not so much. My grandfather, my [00:16:00] grandfather couldn't even swim, but somehow he, he joined the Navy instead of being drafted, um, in World War ii.
But yeah, so I, uh, you know, I, I, I just grew up around water and loved it. And then when I was in the Jesuits, we were up at Traverse City, Michigan. We had a, a place up there that was on the, on the water, and I learned how to sail and it was invigorating. It was like this real sense of independence that when you're on the water, it's totally quiet.
And it just takes you away. And it's like you have, you have control of, of this thing at your, at your fingertips that you can, you know, maneuver as long as you've got someone that can see or you know, is working on some technology that maybe could augment that while I was there, you know, um, for blind sailors.
'cause we would take people with disabilities accessible sailing as well, we worked on, but it was, uh, you know, it was just something I fell in love with and. I was at a point of needing to take a break. My, my, my wife, uh, my former [00:17:00] wife, um, uh, you know, and I, after the pandemic, uh, decided to, you know, split ways her, her life had taken a new turn in a, in a, in a big way.
And I was excited for that. We're still best friends, um, but I, I needed to just kind of, uh. You know, kind of write my keel as they say in sailing. Mm-hmm. You know, kind of get, get even keel and get, get my own life back on. And we lived on Baltimore Harbor, like a block from the harbor. It was cheaper for me to move onto a sailboat than it was to rent a house.
Christina: That's crazy.
Tony: So I went and bought a 45 foot sailboat, a yacht for super cheap, like under $50,000. You can buy these things. And, uh, I mean, I knew how to sail. I'd been part of this sailing club before and I, I moved onto the water. And just lived on a sailboat for a year as I just tried to get my life together.
And conveniently, the sail, the, the marina was a, was next to the docks for this, the community sailing center where I learned how to officially sail, like learn how to [00:18:00] sail, where it wasn't just like we like spinning around in the bay. Um, but actually, you know, all the terminology and, you know, everything it takes towards a, you know, you, you need to do so you don't sink a ship or Baltimore is a working harbor, so you don't plow into a, a cargo.
Carrier or something. And so, uh, you know, I, I was, I got on the board, uh, my kids were part of the sailing camp and I, I was, I, I've, I knew a, a ton about nonprofits 'cause I've been working for decades for nonprofits and they needed an executive director. And, and I came in, it was during an interim time.
When they were, you know, they just lost, uh, an executive director wasn't working out and they needed someone to sort of Right the ship as it were. Yeah. Similar to where I was in my life. And I came in and worked there for a little under a year before a FB tapped me on the shoulder. Um, but I was able to get them sort of settled up and, um, they're, they're doing well now, but it was an amazing, you know, the, the focus, it literally is a sailing center.
I mean, I'm not kidding. Like we're right next to the Domino's plan. If you've ever been to [00:19:00] Baltimore, there's this giant domino sign that's an icon in the city. And you know, huge cargo ships full of sugar cane. Pull in from Panama, you know, central America Vene, well not probably Venezuela now, but you know, parts of Central America with sugar cane and they unload it and it's right next to our docks.
So you could smell the, the raw sugar cane. Oh my gosh. And, um, we'd be out in the water with campers and kids and, uh, people with disabilities. Um, we had all types of equipment for people that were paraplegic veterans, um, and wheelchair bound, uh, blind sailors, you know, and we would take them out on the harbor and you would be, you'd be like a little dot against these giant cargo ships.
Yeah. And it was, it was. Fun and impressive. And so yeah, it's a, Baltimore is an interesting place to live. Uh, 'cause it is like a working industry. Yeah. But it's also so much recreation on the water, the Chesapeake.
Christina: Wow. What a year. Not only a year you did all of that. That's so impactful. Goodness.
Tony: It, it, it was [00:20:00] very, I mean, it was a living metaphor to say the least.
Like, you know, as you're trying to get yourself on your, your feet again, um, you know, and just learn how to be a single dad. And, uh, but still be close to my kids where I could walk 'em to school. They, they moved onto the boat. I probably would've kept the boat, but they literally, they both hit puberty during, well, the first one did during that year where he grew like a foot.
And it was like Jaws where I was like, all right, we need a bigger boat. 'cause it was, uh, you know, literally. And then when I got my, my guide dog Newgate, he was, he's a 90 pound German Shepherd. Wow. I went back to the CNI to get him and he was just too, too big. Like it's, it's very cramped. Your house is 12 feet wide.
Yeah. It
Leslie: grew
Tony: the boat quickly and 45 feet long, so it's, yeah. So, so I'm, I'm a land, I'm back on land.
Leslie: Yeah. But what a fun adventure and it sounds like it was the perfect timing and kind of what everybody needed at
Tony: that point. Point isn't, I'm probably gonna retire back on boat to be honest. Yeah. Okay. It's, it's a comfortable calming again, it just calms you.
The water just relaxes you.
Leslie: Yeah. [00:21:00] I agree. I love being near on the water. It is absolutely one of my favorite things. Mm-hmm. So you mentioned Nge, uh, your guide dog. Mm-hmm. Do you wanna tell us a little bit about why you chose a guide dog in your personal life? Yeah. As your mobility tool.
Tony: Number. He is number four.
Okay. Quint, Lisa Palmer. NuGet just lost Palmer. Oh, Lisa, I love that. A couple weeks ago.
Leslie: Oh, I'm so
Tony: sorry. He was 14 and a half. Oh my gosh. Lisa retired early into a family that were NBC producers in New Jersey.
Christina: Oh my gosh. Fun.
Tony: Uh, Quint was a star War. He was just a, a rock star. But the first dogs are always the rock stars.
Christina: Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Tony: I think because that's what it is. You know, I. I went blind when I was 15 where I needed a cane. I was legally blind before that, so I had other friends that were blind.
Christina: Okay.
Tony: And I, I knew of guide dogs. I went to a camp for the Blind run by the Lions Clubs that are big supporters of Leader Dogs as well.
Leslie: Yeah, yeah.
Tony: And, um, and it's actually, I, I ended up joining the Lions because of that camp.
Leslie: Oh yeah.
Tony: But, and it was, [00:22:00] uh, you know, something where I ran into the person that had a dog and they just seemed, they just seemed more. Comfortable in their skin.
Leslie: Hmm.
Tony: Not, not the, the, the, the trying to figure things out with the cane, but whenever she would let the dog take the lead, it just seemed like this sense of confidence.
And I, when I turned, what year was it? 94. So I was 21. I had enough breathing room in college where I was like, you know, I think I can do this. I'm, I want to, I want to give it a try. And so I applied to the CNI and was an east coaster.
Leslie: Mm-hmm.
Tony: And couldn't get that far away from the water, so I'd be somewhere near the ocean.
So Jersey worked.
Leslie: Yeah.
Tony: And, uh, you know, so I went and got Quint, the first dog. And it was incredible. It was just that, that feeling I'll, I'll never forget the first time you put your hand on that harness and you say, you know, Quint forward and it's just like a, like a [00:23:00] rocket ship or a Cadillac like this smooth, just when you, you know, you are used, so used for years to using the cane and slowly.
Like walking into the wind and suddenly you feel the wind, but just 'cause you're just moving freely like this, this sense of independence and power. And I was just hooked up. Yeah. It was just like,
Leslie: like
Tony: it just, it just made me sm you know, you smile ear to ear and it's just this sense of independence and just being free and so, yeah.
So that's, um, that was four dogs.
Leslie: Oh my goodness. That sounds fantastic. And we hear that from a lot of people. Kind of those same similar reasons. And I have to say that I had the honor of joining the a FB Executive Leadership Conference in uh, Arlington last year and got to see Nunga in person and on stage in pajamas.
And probably one of my favorite things that I saw that whole conference. Do you mind telling us a little bit about that cool event? Because it was, you had the, oh my gosh, I can't think of the word. The time capsule. Yeah, the time capsule. Thank you. And the, the fire, and it was just such a cool event. [00:24:00] Do you mind telling us a little bit about that?
Tony: So we, uh, we, we, so I'm in charge of the program for the conference, and I, I don't take life too seriously. I've had too many crazy things in my life happened where it's like too many plot twists and I'm like, all right, everybody calm down. Yeah, just relax, just smile. So we thought we'd do this fun thing.
We, we had a time capsule put in the corner of our building in New York City at 15 West 16th Street in 1934, December 5th, and it was, uh, you know, the placed in there literally by Helen Keller, who was working for a FB for a little over about a decade at that point.
Leslie: Mm-hmm.
Tony: And, uh, it's this amazing opportunity and they put a time capsules on it inside.
They put these two records, these silver disc records. You can go to afb.org/time capsule to listen to one of the records, and we're working to try to get the other one released. But it was this, this, uh, it was our staff from 1934, the inventors of the talking book, the, the people that started a FB studios and a FB labs that created the talking book.
Engineer and the first [00:25:00] talking book narrator, they did this one record that was just this cool, like sitting around. It was like the first podcast and they were sitting around talking about 1934 and wondering what it was like 90, a hundred years into the future. And so I was like, we just, this is such a special thing for our staff.
It was the first time our staff had ever all gotten together was this leadership conference. So they were kind of. We wanted our staff to hear from their, their predecessors in the early days, but also just for all the, the people from the blindness field and community to come out here. So we had, we couldn't have a fireplace in the hotel.
Right. Um, for fire safety. So we projected this giant fire on the screen and we came and, and brought it. And we had milk and cookies. Yes. And all the guide dogs dressed up in pajamas and it was adorable. Mine had little dinosaurs on 'em. Yeah. But I will say this. It, I think it was a strike. Like he just, he, as soon as they went on, he was like comatose.
I don't know if you've ever seen where they turn a shark upside down or just like, like be stunned.
Leslie: Yeah. [00:26:00]
Tony: And you can like, you know, work on a shark and like, uh, it was like that, like knew, it was just like, I can't move.
Leslie: Oh my gosh.
Tony: That was so funny. And it was just this. It was so much drama. I've never seen him just have that much personality of like rolling his eyebrows and just going, Ugh.
Leslie: I thought
Tony: it was, he was like, Rufus good boy on Instagram.
Leslie: It was such a cool event, first of all, to like hear the old time, like radio voices and Yeah, the things that they were talking about. And you're right, the projected fire, it somehow still felt warm. I know there wasn't actually any heat, but it did.
And we had milk and cookies and then all the guide dogs were in these pajamas, and I think they were all on strike. You could tell that none of 'em were happy about the situation. No. They'd been working so hard at that conference for like a couple days there, so they were exhausted, but they looked so stinking cute in their jammies.
There was one with little duckies on it and oh my gosh. Yeah, it was just such a really cool event. So thank you for putting that together. I absolutely enjoyed
Tony: it. Well, thank you. We're so glad you enjoyed it. We succeeded in our, in our goal to just have some fun at a conference when everything was so [00:27:00] somber and serious with everything happening in the blindness world.
But like, you know, it was, um, it was a lot of fun that night. And he was so glad to get them off. I, I will admit, I I, I left the pajamas for the maid at that as well.
Leslie: Oh goodness. Well, and uh, was it Melody Goodspeed, who we've had on the podcast before too, and also works at a FB and is Leader dog client and her, uh, leader Dog Barney was there.
I think he had the ducky pajamas. And then Melody wore pajamas too, which was so cute and so funny. Um, it was just a really great evening. It was a great way to kind of wrap up the conference. Yeah. So. A FB is doing incredible work. Thank you so much, Tony, for joining us here today and sharing all of the incredible things.
I think we could dive into all of those chapters and probably spend hours talking about all these wonderful things, but we appreciate you spending some time with us today and sharing.
Tony: Yes, my pleasure. Thank you all,
Leslie: and thank you so much to our listeners for listening to the Taking the Lead podcast. I'm Leslie Hoskins with host Christina Hoeppner and missing Timothy Kyo today.
We hope you enjoyed learning about Tony and his impactful career. Please join us next [00:28:00] time as we continue to dive into the world of blindness.
Christina: And if you'd like to learn more about applying to wear Free services at Leader Dog, you can head to leader dog.org or call us at (888) 777-5332. Don't forget you can reach us at taking the lead@leaderdog.org with any questions or ideas.
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